Remote control device for radio apparatus



May 17, 1938. A. G. REDMOND REMOTE CONTROL DEVICE FOR RADIO APPARATUS Filed March 28, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet l Ewen bow 90 fl 6f P5044 aA a May 17, 1938. A. G. RED'MOND 2,117,574

REMOTE CONTROL DEVICE FOR RADIO APPARATUS Filed Marh 28, 11955 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 y 7, 1938. A. G. REDMOND 2,117,574

REMOTE CONTROL DEVICE FOR RADIO APPARATUS Filed March 28, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 gmwem/bzw 6 5350440410 May 17, 1938. A; cs. REDMOND 2,117,574

REMOTE CONTROL DEVICE FOR RADIO APPARATUS Filed March 28, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 May 17, 1938. A. G. REDMOND REMOTE CONTROL DEVICE FOR RADIO APPARATU Filed March 28, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 difizwuan a Patented May 17, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE REMOTE CONTROL DEVICE FOR RADIO APPARATUS Albert G. Redmond, Flint, Mich., assignor to Noblitt- Sparks Industries, Inc.,

Columbus,

8 Claims.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in a remote control device for radios and more particularly to a remote control which is especially adapted to be used for motor vehicles, the object being to provide a convertible control which can be either attached to the steering post or the dash and in either position will occupy a very small space, the same being capable of being attached to either side of the steering post and constructed of such a thickness that when attached to the dash, it will extend only a short distance beyond the instrument board.

Another object of my invention is to provide a remote control in which back lash will be elimli; inated due to the variation in production of the gears, whereby I am able to construct a remote control commercially without precision in workmanship.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a construction of remote control which is exceedingly simple, four turning knobs being arranged in pairs, side by side, one pair consisting of a switch knob and a tuning knob, the other pair consisting of a tone control knob and a volume knob, the tuning knob and volume knob being connected to flexible shafts for controlling respectively the condenser and rheostat, the flexible shafts being so mounted and connected that all danger of the same becoming separated by vibration of the motor vehicle is prevented.

A still further object of the invention is to provide novel means for adjusting the needle of the dial after the device has been set in position on the motor vehicle.

Another object of my invention is to provide an exceedingly cheap construction of switch whereby the switch leads and tone control leads are connected to eyelets embedded within a face plate and adapted to form contacts for ball portions of the switch plates carried by the switch knob and the tone control knob.

A still further object of the invention, is to provide a very novel form of earing between the dial and the tuning knob shaft in order to prevent back lash whereby a construction is produced which can be manufactured with variations so as to produce the same commercially.

A still further object of the invention is to provide very novel means for attaching and detaching the housing for enclosing the flexible cables and lead wires when attaching the housing to the head when the remote control is used on the steering post of a motor vehicle.

Other and further objects and advantages of 55 the invention will be hereinafter set forth and the novel features thereof defined by the appended claims.

In the drawings,

Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved construction of remote control, the knobs being removed;

Figure 2 is a horizontal section showing the connecting post connecting the device directly to the dash or to a spider connecting the removable housing;

Figure 3 is a section taken on line 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a detail elevation of a portion of the rear side of the face plate showing the switch lead and the tone control leads;

Figure 5 is a detail section of a modified form of the pointer shaft;

Figure 6 is a section taken on line 66 of Figure 1;

Figure '7 is a section taken on line 'l--! of Figure 1;

Figure 8 is a detail elevation of a rear view of one of the knobs;

Figure 9 is a detail section showing the lamp socket;

Figure 10 is a front elevation showing the manner of connecting the same to a steering post;

Figure 11 is a top plan view, partly broken away, showing the manner of connecting the tail portion when enclosing the cables and wires;

Figure 12 is a side elevation of the construction shown in Figures 10 and 11;

Figure 13 is a detail end view of the conical housing showing the slot to receive the connecting rod;

Figure 14 is a side elevation of a modified form of housing; and a Figure 15 is a top plan view, partly in section, of the same.

In carrying out my invention I employ a head I which is provided adjacent its lower end at each side of the center with forwardly projecting tubular portions 2 and 3, which portions also project rearwardly as shown at 4 and 5. Mounted within the portions 2 and 4 is a knob shaft 6 which is cut to form. a gear at I as will be hereinafter fully described.

This shaft is provided with an annular groove 8 into which extends a screw 9 for holding the same in proper position and this shaft is connected to a flexible shaft it! by a suitable coupling l I, which flexible shaft is adapted to extend to the adjustable plates of a condenser of a radio for tuning the instrument.

The outer end of the shaft 6 has a knob i2 secured thereon.

Mounted within the extensions 3 and 5 of the head I is a knob shaft 53 which carries a knob [4 at its outer end and has its inner end connected to a flexible shaft l5 by coupling members it, said shaft being connected to a rheostat for controlling the volume.

The teeth formed. in the knob shaft 6 forms a pinion which meshes with a pair of gears I? and i8, loosely mounted on a stud shaft 29 of the head i, said gears being held in their proper position and spaced apart by spaced plates 2! and 22 as clearly shown in Figure 3.

The gears l1 and I8 mesh with gears 23 and 24 carried by a pointer shaft 25 herein shown mounted in a cross plate 25 adjacent the forward end and provided with a socket 2! at its rear end in which is disposed a ball bearing 28, which ball bearing works in a socket 29 formed in the head in order to mount the pointer shaft on a ball bearing and allow it to turn freely.

The gears 23 and 24 are held apart by plates 22 and are provided with annular recesses surrounding the pointer shaft in which is disposed a circular spring 30 which is provided with angled ends 3| and 32 which are adapted to engage lips 33 and 34 punched inwardly out of the gears 23 and 24 in order to yieldably connect these gears together. The gear 24 is secured rigidly to the pointer shaft 25 by washer 35.

It will be seen that by this construction the gears I1 and 23 will rotate independently until the back lash is taken up which allows a driving connection for the remote control to be manufactured without precision, thereby enabling a commercial product to be produced very cheaply.

I wish it to be clearly understood that I do not wish to limit myself to the particular manner of mounting the pointer shaft or the particular manner of forming the gears in the train of gears between the knob shaft and pointer shaft nor the particular construction of spring forming a yielding connection between the two gears 23 and 24 as my invention consists in providing between the knob shaft and the yieldably connected gears carried by the pointer shaft a pair of idle gears and I am aware that various changes can be made without departing from the spirit of my invention.

This construction enables a remote control to be made very compact with the knobs to each side of the dial.

Secured over the head by screws 36 is a face plate 31 formed by some suitable translucent material which secures in position a translucent dial 3B and a glass crystal 39 which is provided with a central plug opening 40 in which the plug 4| is disposed which allows the pointer 42 to be adjusted on the pointer shaft 25 after the instrument has been installed. The pointer 42 is split as shown at 43 and embraces a reduced portion 44 of the pointer shaft in order to hold it in proper position and allow it to be adjusted.

The face plate in alignment with the tubular projections 2 and 3 is provided with openings in which bushings 45 and 46-are disposed. The bushing 45 has mounted thereon a switch knob 4'! provided with an annular recess 48 in which is seated a spring contact plate 49 provided with semi-spherical contact portions 50, 5| and 52 which are adapted to contact with contact eyelets 54 to which are connected the leads 55. The knob 41 is provided with a projection 56 which works in a slot 51 formed in the face plate in order to limit the oscillation of the turning knob 41 and the knob is provided with lugs 41' which extend into notches 49 of the contact plates 49 and these contact plates are provided with oppositely disposed bent up portions 49 which provides spring or resilient means for holding the contact plates in contact with the eyelets and to allow the semi-spherical bosses to ride out of the eyelets when the knobs are turned.

The face plate is formed of a translucent insulating material in order to insulate the contact eyelets from one another in order to allow the circuit to be broken when the semi-spherical bosses ride out of the eyelets onto the face plate whereby the circuit is made and broken as the knob is turned.

The bushing 46 carries a knob 58 which is provided with a contact plate A constructed identical with the contact plate 49 and the bosses thereof are adapted to contact with eyelets 13 secured in the face plate and to which the lead wires B are connected, the construction of switch produced by the flexible contact plate A and the eyelet B is identical with the construction of the switch operated by the knob 41 and as I have described the specific construction of this switch in connection with the knob 41, I have refrained from describing this specifically.

In the form of pointer shaft illustrated in Fig ure 5, the shaft 59 has one of its ends mounted in an apertured boss 60 of the head BI and has rigidly secured thereon one of the gears 62, the other gear 63 being loosely mounted thereon and this construction dispenses with the use of ball bearings and the gear is preferably secured thereon by upsetting the shaft.

While this is another form of mounting the gears on the pointer shaft, I wish it to be clearly understood that I do not wish to limit myself to the details of construction as I am aware that various constructions can be employed and my invention consists in providing a pointer shaft with a pair of gears, one of which is fixed thereon and the other is loosely mounted thereon, said gears having a driving connection through the medium of a spring and these gears mesh with a pair of loosely mounted intermediate gears which in turn mesh with the pinion formed on the knob shaft in order to eliminate back lash due to the remote control and the flexible drive shaft between the knob shaft and the condenser plates of the radio.

The head is provided with threaded bosses 64 in which are mounted threaded posts 65, the ends of which are upset as shown at 66 for securing the post in the threaded bores and the cross bar 26 in its proper position and these posts provide means for securing the control device to the dash or instrument board by simply boring a pair of holes through the dash to receive the posts 65 and placing lock washers and nuts thereon and clamping the control device to the instrument board or dash whereby it will occupy a very small space and the lead wires and flexible cables for the control of the radio will be in a plane below the instrument board in order to allow the wires to be readily connected and disconnected.

The head is provided with a lamp socket 61 in which is adapted to be placed a lamp 68 for illuminating the dial, said lamp being supplied with electrical energy through the lead wire 69 from a source of electrical supply, such as a battery or generator of the motor vehicle to which the remote control is attached.

fix

This. provides a remote control which can be manufactured: in production as the variations in manufacturing thegears which causes the back lash is compensated for and a remote control with four knobs for controlling the electrical energy, volume, tone control and tuning of the radio, are so disposed that they can be readily manipulated. by the operator of a motor vehicle. The construction is such that it can be readily attached or detached to the dash of the vehicle and as it is formed very thin, it occupies a very small space and I am able to employ a gear train in which three sets of gears are used with the proper gear ratio between the turning. knob and the dial in such a manner that all back lash is absolutely eliminated and a construction is provided in which the tuning of a radio is greatly facilitated, and one that can be adjusted to a nicety.

In the construction of remote radio control as disclosed in Figures 10, 11, and 12, I illustrate a conical tail portion 1B which is adapted to enclose cables and lead wires and said tail portion is provided with an outlet conduit II through which the lead Wires and cables extend to the radio and battery.

In order to convert a dash attached remote control to a steering post remote control, I secure to. the head 12, which is constructed identical as described in Figures 1 to 10, a spider 13 which is secured over the posts H which correspond to the posts 65 of the preferred embodiment of my invention. The spider is secured in position by nuts 15 and is provided with a threaded boss 16 into which extends the threaded end 11 of a clamp rod 18, the same being secured in position therein by a cotter pin 19 and a nut 80. The opposite end of the rod 18 is threaded and on which is adapted to be screwed a nut 8! for clamping the cone shaped casing or housing 10 in position on the head. The conical portion adjacent the outlet conduit H is offset and slotted as shown at 82 to receive the rod 18, which facilitates the insertion and removal of the conical housing forming the enclosure for the wires in order to prevent the same from rattling and being in the way of the operator of the machine.

This provides a very novel and pleasing design for radio control which is especially adapted to be used in connection with a steering post of a motor vehicle.

In order to provide means for securing the remote control as above described to the steering post, I employ a strap 83 which embraces the steering post 84 and extends into a mounting bracket 85, the free ends being apertured through which the hooked end 86 of a bolt 81 is adapted to extend, said bolt passing through a threaded aperture 88 formed in the housing 19 and on which a washer 89 and a nut 99 are disposed for clamping the remote control firmly in position on the steering post in any predetermined position.

The opposite side of the housing 19 is provided with a threaded bore 9| which is herein shown closed by a plug 92 and it is, of course, understood that the plug 92 can be removed from the opening or aperture 9| and the bolt 81 inserted therethrough so as to clamp the rod on either side of the steering post, it, of course, being understood that the plug 92 will then be inserted in the threaded aperture 88 to close the same.

This provides a construction for allowing the remote control to be readily attached to either side of the steering post very quickly. In this construction all of the wires and flexible shafts are enclosed by thehousing l0 and the conduit Tl in order to prevent the same from rattling, or being distorted.

In the form of remote control as disclosed in Figures 14 and 15, I disclose a cheaper construction adapted to be connected to the steering post in substantially the same manner as disclosed in Figures 10, 11, and 12 and comprises a housing 83 which is connected to a spider 94 secured to the stud bolts of the head 95 in substantially the same manner as disclosed in Figures 10, 11, and 12 and said housing or casing 93 is secured in position by a screw bolt 96. A bolt 91 is secured in the wall of the housing by a nut 98, which bolt passes through a mounting bracket 99 and has its hooked ends extending through the apertured ends of a strap I09, the construction being identical to that shown in Figures 10, 11, and 12. i

In all of the figures of the drawings, with the exception of Figure 5, the remote control comprises a head and face plate and the turning knobs are constructed identically alike, therefore I have refrained from describing in detail the construction of remote control in Figures 10, ll, 12, 13, 14, and 15, and I wish it to be clearly understood that I reserve the right to make minor changes in the manner of mounting the remote control on the steering post without departing from the spirit of my invention.

It will be apparent in the operation of a remote control as herein shown and described, whether it has been secured in position on an instrument board, dash or steering rod, that the control is provided with four knobs for controlling the radio and a pointer of the dial which is connected to one of the knob shafts through the medium of a train of gears so constructed as to prevent back lash and therefore I wish to reserve the right to make minor changes in the mounting of this control without departing from the spirit of my invention.

It will also be apparent that the remote control itself, consisting of the head and face, is not changedat all in converting the control from a dash control to a steering post control as it is only necessary to add the spider and the housing to convert a dash control to a steering post control.

While I have not illustrated any form of radio to be operated by my remote control, I wish it to be clearly understood that my remote control is capable of being used with various styles of radios and that my invention consists in providing a remote control with flexible cables for operating the radio, one of the cables being operated by a knob shaft which in turn is connected to a pointer shaft through the medium of a train of gears provided with means for preventing back lash.

With my construction of remote control, I am able to combine in a limited space the necessary gears, turning knobs and lamp without the turning knob overlapping the dial by the use of a pair of idle gears which also eliminate back lash. By the use of a curved torsional spring, the gears 23 and 24 have a tendency to rotate in opposite directions and as the gears are in mesh with a pair of idle gears, one of the idle gears will rotate until the back lash is taken up.

While in the specification I have described and used the term spider for a bridge member and the use of a flexible shaft for a flexible cable, I wish it to be understood that these terms are used in a broad sense and that I do not wish to limit myself to the use of any particular construction as my invention consists broadly in providing means controlling a radio receiver having tunable means from the dash or steering post of a motor vehicle through mechanism so constructed that it can be readily attached to the instrument panel by outwardly projecting members, which members form means for attaching a housing thereto when the device is attached to the steering column of a motor Vehicle.

By constructing a remote radio control and mounting the same as shown and described on the steering post, all the connecting members are concealed and a very artistic and neat construction is provided for supporting the remote control in its proper position as the bracket conceals the connection between the steering post and housing of the control.

What I claim is:

1. A radio control comprising a head, a face plate secured over said head, said head being provided with spaced tubular projections, bushings movably mounted in said face plate in alignment with the tubular projections, switch knobs mounted on said bushings and knob shafts mounted in said tubular projections carrying knobs.

2. A remote control mechanism for a radio receiver having tunable means comprising a head provided with a face plate carrying a crystal for enclosing a pointer and a dial, control knobs arranged in pairs, the knobs of each pair being arranged parallel with one another for said radio receiver carried by said head, switches operated by one pair of knobs and flexible cables operated by the other pair of knobs, a driving connection between one of said knobs and said pointer and a housing detachably connected to said head having a conduit through which the Wires and flexible cables leading from the radio receiver extend.

3. A remote radio control comprising a head in which a dial is mounted, a pointer shaft 'mounted in said head extending through said dial and provided with a pointer adjustably mounted thereon, a face plate, a crystal provided with a central threaded opening through which the pointer can be adjusted and a plug for closing said opening.

4.'A radio receiver control comprising a head and a face plate formed of translucent insulating material, said face plate being provided with eyelets to which leads are connected, bushings arranged in said face plate, turning knobs mounted on said bushings provided with flexible contact plates having spherical projections adapted to contact with said eyelets in order to make and break an electric circuit.

5. A radio remote control for a receiver having tunable means comprising a. head having a face plate, said head being provided with tubular projections, knob shafts mounted in said tubular projections, turning knobs revolubly mounted around said knob shafts, lead wires provided with contacts disposed in said face plate, said knobs being provided with annular recesses and flexible contact plates mounted in said recesses and provided with projections adapted to contact with said contact plate.

6. A radio control having a pair of posts projecting therefrom, a spider connected to said posts, a housing arranged to the rear of said control and means disposed in said housing for connecting said housing to said spider.

'7. A radio control comprising a head, a face plate secured over said head, said head being provided with tubular projections, bushings movably mounted in said face plate in alignment with said tubular projections, switch knobs mounted on said bushings and knob shafts detachably mounted in said tubular projections carrying knobs.

8. A radio control comprising a head, a face plate secured over said head, said head being provided with tubular projections, bushings movably mounted in said face plate in alignment with said tubular projections, switch knobs mounted on said bushings provided with contacts, contacts carried by said face plate cooperating with the contacts of said switch knobs and knob shafts passing through said bushings mounted in said tubular projections carrying knobs.

ALBERT G. REDMOND. 

